Long Time No See

Thirty thousand page views. I really can't believe it. I leave the blog for eight months and I come back to steady page views, even after all this time! This audience is the best. You - since you're reading this you're the audience - are the best!

I'm just a dude with a little creativity. A few videos (only three!), a bunch of pictures and words. Who'd'a thunk 30,000 people would be interested in that? Thank you ever so much, dear readers!

Now, to catch you up on a few things I've been doing. I'm just about to graduate from my community college with an Associates of Applied Science in graphic design - print media. That means I'm in the midst of my final semester for a while, which also means I'm busy branding, painting, studying, and designing, with only about six weeks to go!

One of my favorite projects to work on so far this semester has been a branding program for a company called Coccinellidae Co. I designed a logo as well as all the collateral (print materials such as business cards, letterhead, postcards and the like) needed for a company. Take a look:

Business cards and buttons - the cards are squattier than
normal business cards on purpose. It's a very mysterious company, so each card has
 a different vintage image as a background. Also see their blog.

Postcards, for mailing out and possibly as Kickstarter awards,
in case the company decides to do a Kickstarter campaign.

Letterhead. A business isn't a business without letterhead, right?

I am pursuing a career as a designer for Disney, so it makes sense to make some Disney designs, right? I've done several Disney pieces, including these buttons (I'm on a button kick this semester! If you have a button make you're done with, I want one SO bad and would gladly take it off your hands!) and a poster:

Just a few snapshots of things I love: Flynn and Rapunzel, Cinderella Castle and the Main Street Station, and Mickey Bars and Dole Whip!

Disney plunked down the giant Sorcerer Mickey hat in front of the beautiful facade of the Great Movie Ride. Lot's of people wish they'd remove the hat, including me. So, I designed this poster, playing off the idiom "old hat" for something, well, old.

I have a painting class this semester too - I've never painted (as in full blown on a canvas with nice paints) before, but I love that this class is required for my major. It's challenging sometimes, but challenge is good. I have two paintings finished so far:

Abstract piece entitled "Soarin'". It was inspired by the orchestral score to the identically named Disney World and Disneyland attraction. 36"x48", acrylic on canvas. 

Expressionist piece entitled "Kingdom Celebration". This one is based on yet another Disney reference, this time Disney's Tangled. 24"x36", acrylic on canvas.

A lot of you are probably wondering if I tangle any more. I do, but with much less frequency than I used to, unfortunately. Although most consider direct eye contact with the preacher on Sunday mornings to be sacrosanct, I've deviated a bit and now tangle in a journal during sermons. I find it helps me to concentrate on the words being spoken, as my brain is less likely to wander. Increased concentration and Zentangling? I call that a win-win!

One of the things I've loved about running this blog is getting to know some great people! I had the chance to meet another reader, New Zealand-based Karen Taylor, who runs a guerilla art blog titled Artshecried. She has beautiful work on her blog - go check it out! She asked me for an interview, which I happily obliged to!

I also wanted to let you guys know that I'll be heading out to work at the Walt Disney World Resort once again through the Disney College Program right after I graduate! I'm terribly excited, as this time around I'll be working in an attractions role. I thought my experience the first time was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, but it turns out to be a twice-in-a-lifetime deal, I guess! God is good!

You'll hear from me again, I promise. It might take another eight months, but you'll hear from me! I may end up posting more to my other blog, College Casted, since Disney is just around the corner, but keep an eye out on this blog too.

Until next time, friends, keep designing and creating!

A Magical Adventure

Hi friends! It's been a while, huh? My last blog post was over four months ago in January. That was right before I started working in Walt Disney World...

Hold up. Did I just say Disney World? Oh yeah, I did! Sorry about that, I still can't really believe it happened!

You see, I applied for the Disney College Program last fall. I was accepted. I took a semester off school to go have the adventure of working at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida! What an adventure it was.

Going into it, I had no idea what role I would play in the grand show that is Disney World. Would I like my job? Would I be required to wear an embarrassing costume? The only thing I knew for sure was that I would be working main entrance operations. I prayed that I wouldn't be stuck driving a parking tram or working the entrance to a water park. I mean, those things are fine and good (driving a parking tram might actually be pretty fun!), but it wouldn't be the same as working in one of the parks.

It was with great, great delight that I learned on the day I checked in to the apartment complex that I would be working main entrance operations at the Magic Kingdom! As things progressed and I completed Traditions and several rounds of training, I discovered my specific roles were Park Greeter and PAC (Parade Audience Control). I also decided, after talking with many people in many different roles, that Magic Kingdom Park Greeter is arguably one of the best roles offered to Disney College Program participants.

In the Park Greeter role I was generally stationed at a turnstile at the main entrance to the Magic Kingdom. I had a vague idea of what a turnstile was before I started, but just in case you don't know, here's what it looks like:

You know, those clunky silver things, where you put your
 ticket in the slot, put your finger on the scanner, and then
 walk through the spinning arm. That's a turnstile!

Disney is also trying to do away with the turnstiles in favor of a more open, family friendly approach to park entry. They've started transforming the park entry points to these "touchpoints":

Sorry it's all noisy - iPhone camera at night, what would you
expect? I just walked up to take a picture of the touchpoints
 as I was leaving the park one night, and seeing as I knew
everyone who was working that night, they decided to make
my picture a little more fun!

These touchpoints are pretty cool, and make it a lot easier for families (especially families with strollers or wheelchairs) to come into the park. I frequently worked these in addition to the turnstiles.

There were various other tasks that I performed, especially during a closing shift (they say your CP status, which means College Program, actually stand for "Closing Person", since CPs get lots of closing shifts). Cleaning the turnstiles, putting the covers on, taking out the dirty towels that were used during the day, cleaning the break room. Can you tell I closed a lot? 1am, 2am, even 4am were pretty normal times to get off work.

The best and most coveted task for Park Greeters is stocking maps in the two tunnels that lead to Main Street, USA. This task involves walking backstage and wheeling out a cart filled with maps. You go to the map racks and make sure they're all filled 3/4 of the way full. If you fill them all the way, when someone grabs a map a whole stack will fall out since they're all squished together. It always was a competition to see who would get the maps task. How I loved seeing maps pop up when getting a new task!

Here's a photo of me in my Park Greeter costume:

I'm the one on the far right!
These are some of my fellow CPs who frequently closed with me.
From the left: Sarah, Matt, Nichole, Lauren, and I.
You guys are the best!

My other role was PAC. I was trained on PAC in early February, and I was scheduled four PAC shifts right after training. After those four shifts, I wasn't scheduled another PAC shift until my very last week of the program, in May! I think I was more of a Park Greeter person anyway - but an even mix of the two would have been nice!

PAC is interesting because for each shift you are put in a different position. There are positions all the way down the parade route, so there are many, many positions. PAC shifts are either PAC South, meaning Main Street all the way up to the Liberty Square bridge, or PAC West, which is Liberty Square to Frontierland.

The first thing you do on a PAC shift is attend the short pre-parade meeting, usually held two hours before the parade you'll be working. You will be assigned your position for the parade and given any additional info you may need (i.e. whether there are any bands/cheerleader groups preceding the parade, things to look out for, etc.). Then you grab the cart with the stanchions and ropes for your position and wheel it out to the proper location. Once you set them up properly, you wait for the parade. At about five minutes before the parade starts, the PAC team begins clearing the street, ensuring guests are on the sidewalk and no one is standing in front of trashcans, no video camera lights are on, and all guests are behind the appropriate rope and tape lines. During the parade you continue to monitor guests, watching especially for "runners", people who would risk their lives to cross the street or grab a piece of confetti in front of the parade floats. "Risking their lives" may sound like an overstatement, but it really isn't. Would you cross a busy street in front of a gigantic, heavy vehicle driven by someone with limited visibility, even if it was slow-moving? Don't do it! This has been a public safety announcement brought to you by the Walt Disney World PAC team :-)

But that brings up a good point - PAC is all about guest safety. Unfortunately some guests don't appreciate that. PAC cast members experience a lot of not-so-nice guest interactions from people who don't want to stand in the tape lines, don't want to obey the rules put in place for their safety. That's when you get help from another PAC cast member or a coordinator - and that's also when you bond with your co-workers, backing each other up and working as a team. That's one of the great things about PAC - you really feel like a part of a team, part of a family.

The PAC costume was my favorite - it's so dapper!

Me and my good friend "Japanois" Jamie.

On the West side the ropes are rolled out and in on rolls that people wear:

Felicia! Thanks for all your help and reassurance when I rolled!

I had the position of roller for the first time on my last day of work! I was so thankful to work alongside of experienced PAC cast members who helped me so much during that last day. 

On my days off I would visit the parks with some of the great friends I made! It was always a blast. Some of our exploits included riding Kali River Rapids four times in a row and getting drenched, visiting each of the four parks in one day, a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad marathon (once during Wishes!), visiting Chef Mickey's and laughing our heads off when we took a "family" photo, visiting "The Bench" late one night just to say we did it. So many good memories! Here is some picture evidence:

Arggh, pirates we be! Me, Anthony, and Dallin. You two rock!

We smile even when we are being blown away in a balloon! Angela, Patrick, Robert,
Dallin, Franny, me, Kevin, and Erika. Thanks for such a fun time, y'all!

The Bench. Erika, Robert, Tori, Dallin, Patrick, and me. We did it!

Sometimes all my friends would be working, however, and I'd visit the parks alone. I enjoyed this too, but for a different reason. I learned that I photograph things best when I am alone and there is no one to keep up with. Then I have the freedom to really look, experiment with different angles, and draw out the most beauty from a scene. I got some photos that I am very pleased with, especially since I shot exclusively with my iPhone camera! Take a look:

The facade of the American Adventure pavilion in Epcot.

Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom at sunrise.

Another shot of Expedition Everest.

Dancers in the Frontierland Hoedown in the Magic Kingdom.

The lobby to the Hollywood Tower Hotel in the queue to the Tower of Terror.

And of course Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom.

I'm thinking about making a sort of coffee table art photo book to sell with some of the photographs from my time in WDW. We'll see how that goes.

There's one more story I must share. I know this post is running long, but this is a good one:
Almost every day I would take a trip to Magic Kingdom's costuming building to pick up a new costume and return my soiled one. Each time I would pick up the same yellow shirt and blue pants, but I would pass by the rows and rows of other costumes. My favorite attraction in all of Walt Disney World is the Haunted Mansion. That may come as a surprise, but my aesthetic inclinations often lean toward vintage, shabby, distressed styles, so it really is a no-brainer. If I could choose, I would definitely work at the Haunted Mansion. So one day, as I passed a row of Haunted Mansion butler costumes, I wondered "Would it be possible for me to check one of those out, just to try on?" Once I had gathered my courage, I picked out a piece of the costume and brought it through the costume check-out system, anticipating an alarm to go off saying I wasn't authorized to check out the costume. No such alarm rang! The next day I acquired the rest of the costume, and later tried it all on. I actually wore it to the class that I was taking through Disney, since we were allowed to wear our costumes to class. After class I had my roommate take a few pictures. Here's how the best one turned out:

I'm a geek, I know. Dreams really do come true at Disney!

I returned the costume shortly thereafter, of course. Oh how I would love to have taken it home!

I hope you've gathered from my description of the time I spent as a cast member that it was a phenomenal experience. Any negative happenings were outweighed many times by good ones. I could see God's hand at work in so many things: the roommates I stayed with, the friends He provided, the work, how everything worked out for my family to visit several times, everything! I'm glad to be home, but I can't lie: I am already thinking about doing another college program, along with some of my new friends!

So there you go. My grand adventure. I plan to get back to more regular blogging here soon. Thanks for reading, folks!

Sabbatical Doubles

Well, bloggers, I just got back from vacation - it was so nice to refresh before the impending start of school! Just two more weeks of summer for me...very bittersweet. I'm ready to be back in school, but I also don't want the summer to end. I'm going to play things by ear blog-wise as I get into the fall semester. My continued regularity of blogging will depend largely on how my class load is, and whether I make anything blog-worthy in those classes!

Over the trip I took lots of pictures. They aren't your average vacation snapshots, though (but don't worry, I got some of those too!). They are double or triple exposures. To break up those long car rides en route to our destinations each day, I took my camera out and, right through the glass in the backseat of the car, photographed the scenes zipping by. I concentrated on finding interesting shapes, figures, and wording. I'm currently Photoshop-less, so I had to do the multiple exposures in-camera, shooting some interesting things and hoping for the best to turn up on the screen. I definitely went for a dreamy, lo-fi look as opposed to technically perfect technique. After all, how are you supposed to get a non-blurry image in the back of a moving car? The vintage feel was further enhanced by some creative filters. I really like the results, as it chronicles moments of the trip. Take a look:

My favorite! I have no idea what that swirly white
 thing is, but I love it!

Zentangle Philharmonic

Zentangle Ensembles are groups of Zentangle tiles (usually four or six) with a string drawn across the tiles while they were arranged in a square, allowing them to fit together like a puzzle. See the Zentangle blog's Ensemble post.

I started a four tile ensemble over a year ago, completed one tile, and never went back to it. As I organized my tangling supplies last week I found the tiles already strung for an ensemble and decided to get back to it. I completed one tile yesterday, so that leaves two to tangle. 

According to dictionary.com: 

Ensemble - the united performance of an entire group of singers, musicians, etc.

I like this musical definition of ensemble. If done solo, an ensemble is the united performance of a group of tiles, tangles, and, most simply, lines. I've also seen ensembles where each tile is done by a different artist, and in that case the performance is actually by a group of tanglers, coming together to symphonize with the instruments of pen and pencil. Instead of sending sound waves through air, they utilize light waves in their orchestration.

Here's the one I did yesterday.
I love the itty-bitty Paradox on the corner of Auraknot.

Red Eyes and Orange Flames

If you've been following the blog, you know that I'm definitely into many diverse art forms. Photography is among them. You saw some of my photographs in the post Guerilla Art - Experiment #001 (other posts too, but in this one I really worked hard to make the pictures nice), and I wanted to share more of my images.

For the first three photos in this post and most of the photos in the guerilla art post, I used a special DSLR camera lens called a Lensbaby. This lens is unique because it looks like a ball in a socket, and allows you to tilt the lens (see this). You'll notice the pictures taken with it have a sharp spot of focus, but the rest of the frame is blurred. The ball and socket design of the optic gives you this effect, and you can tilt the lens to change the sweet spot of focus. Pretty weird, huh? Another weird thing about it is that I must shoot in full manual mode. It has no auto focus, aperture ring, or even exposure metering (with my camera, some cameras will meter with the Lensbaby)! When I first got the lens I was inexperienced in manual settings and knowing what button to push when. This lens quickly taught me manual mode - sometimes the best way to learn to swim is to simply jump into the pool!

While shooting the guerilla art images, our backyard box turtle was sniffing around my camera bag, curious about the black, squishy mountain that had landed in her abode. She's the most curious box turtle I've ever seen, and she's most interested about feet. She'll come right up to your shoe to check it out without a care in the world. It's also really interesting to watch her eat - an activity any other turtle would never partake in with us standing above.

Despite the popular stereotype, turtles can actually be pretty fast, especially if they're scared or in front of a camera, making them rather difficult to photograph! I came away with only three good shots, fleeting moments of stillness. Look at those beautiful, fiery eyes! That was the first thing that struck me when I first saw her. Green head, red eyes. Blue and yellow/orange shell. Complements. God knew what colors would be pleasing together when He designed this turtle!

Guerilla Art - Experiment #001

I've always been fascinated by the idea of hiding and finding things. Aside from Hide-and-Go-Seek and Sardines, one of my favorite games growing up was Lego Treasure Quest, the object of which was to hide cardboard keys in various rooms. The treasure chest base would tell you which room to search for a key in, and once you found a key in all six rooms you won. Very fun!

With this in mind, my fascination with guerilla art makes a little more sense.

Let me give you a definition of guerilla art: when an artist leaves an artwork in a public place for others to enjoy and/or take. The notion that I am leaving something that someone will eventually find and hopefully enjoy is one of the things that draws me to guerilla art. Another aspect of the appeal for the artist is that you can create an atmosphere, set a mood, and influence someone's day for good. Wouldn't you like to turn the corner and unexpectedly see a framed painting randomly hanging from a brick store facade (with removable Command hooks, of course)? Or how about coming across a beautifully chalked sidewalk? I know those things would make my day, and that's the type of thing I want to do for others.

Process Paradox

My first attempt at art journaling in the style
found in Diana Trout's book "Journal Spilling".

Journal Spilling, Diana Trout's 2009 art journal technique book, is simply fantastic. I checked this book out from the library just a week or two ago, and it has already inspired me so much! I now present my first effort in art journaling.

The picture at left is the spread I created. I received this wonderful watercolor sketchbook for Christmas last year, and I love it! It is perfectly suited to this style of artwork. It features thick watercolor paper with a deep, rich texture. The edges are ragged and uneven, rustic and fibrous.

Cadent-ology

This week's challenge from the Diva (of I Am the Diva) asks us to experiment with the official tangle Cadent.  She says in her post that "This week is the study of 'Cadent'." The study of something is an "ology", right? Thus, Cadent-ology!

The Rolodex Project

In preparation for this post I was reminiscing on the origins of the project I will soon describe, and I sympathize with other creatives who are inevitably asked about the inspiration and genesis of a particular project. Ideas come from a myriad of sources, and concepts contribute to your thinking without your awareness. You may be able to tack down one or two main pieces of inspiration, but to list everything is impossible. On this project, for instance, I was inspired by Lea Redmond and her Rolodex Project, a pin I discovered on Pinterest, the Choose Your Own Adventure book series, the joy I experienced flipping through a full  Rolodex file, and many other venues, all diverse and unrelated snatches of information that I have let circulate in my brain. This truly illustrates the adage:

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Fengle Tangle

Another Zentangle, just for fun. I tangled this one weeks and weeks ago, but never got around to shading it until now. Comparing this one and the one I posted yesterday, you'll notice I used many of the same tangles. I didn't even look at this tile before starting the more recent tile, so I must have had some residual tangle on the brain!

I believe the lower left iteration of Fengle (see the instructions for this tangle towards the middle of the page here) was my first go at this pattern. I really enjoy using it. 

Altered Puzzle Part 1: The Beginning

The art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity - Douglas Horton

I love altered art. Books, clocks, Rolodexes (Rolodice...Rolodeces...Rolodexes?), and now puzzles. Inspired by a pin on Pinterest, I picked up a cheap three-pack of puzzles from the Dollar Store. I bet those cute, unassuming puzzles never saw this coming! I'm treating each piece as a seperate canvas, which is one of the features I really enjoyed from my inspiration.

I've only completed the two pieces you see above so far, though I'm starting on a third. I wanted a driving force behind the entire puzzle (which will have thirty pieces), and I again took inspiration from a pin I found on Pinterest. Using this site, which is geared toward journal writers, I'm using a writing prompt from the random prompt generator as the basis of each piece. The first prompt asked me to describe the first thing I thought of when I woke up. The day I started creating the piece, the song "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." came into my head right after the alarm went off. Random, no? With two illustrations (one from an old Alice in Wonderland book and one from a children's encyclopedia), some scrapbook paper, black Stazon ink, and cut out letters, the top piece in these pictures is a loose interpretation of that song. For the second piece the prompt was "List your hobbies", so I chose one, Zentangle, and illustrated the piece with patterns. Two down, twenty eight to go!

I'll post an update on this project when I complete more puzzle pieces.

Three Ws

Hi! I'm Zach, and this is my blog. As you can see, this is my first post. I'm a little nervous, but I'm just going to dive in and hope I don't make too big a mess with the splash. In this entry I'll introduce myself, explain what this blog will be about, and disclose the reason I'm starting it. Consider this the who-what-why post. Like many movies where the credits roll before the entertainment, this introductory post must be published before the fun content. Be patient, it will come!